


In Good Hands

by CaptainoftheUSSTardis



Series: The Gemma Stark Series [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Parents, Dad AU, Family, Gen, Parent Tony Stark, Tony Stark's a dad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-11
Updated: 2016-01-15
Packaged: 2018-05-13 02:48:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 17,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5691763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainoftheUSSTardis/pseuds/CaptainoftheUSSTardis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Tony Stark is taken by terrorists, his daughter Gemma Stark is forced to deal with the constant fear of losing the person she holds most dear. And even after he returns home, she realizes that the chaos had not stopped, especially when Tony starts a secret project. A project that will attract enemies, push limits and reveal true natures.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first fanfic I ever wrote and posted back in 2013 on fanfiction.net. It's currently going through an editing process to the chapters are being updated (hopefully) soon.   
> Thanks so reading!

“Ladies and Gentleman, it is my honor to present this year’s Apogee Award to Mr. Tony Stark,” Colonel James Rhodes announced to the dimmed room. The crowd applauded. Gemma Stark, wearing a sparkly turquoise dress, looked around for her father, but he didn’t stride up to the podium. Fury started to well up inside of her, but she remained calm and collected. He promised her earlier that day that he would be here this time, unlike all the other occasions when he had done the same thing.  


“You have to attend the ceremony tonight,” she had told Tony that morning. “And I will,” he replied, walking to her from the large island in the kitchen. She narrowed her eyes. “I mean it. You can’t go off and gamble or drink or whatever.”  


“What makes you think that I will?” Tony pretended to be surprised. “Because you’re you,” Gemma retorted, making Tony laugh. “I will come, honey, I promise.”  


“Really?” she raised her eyebrow. “Yes,” he said, looking her eyes. He pulled her in for a quick hug and kissed the top of her head. “Tony?” Rhodey asked the room again, snapping Gemma from her thoughts. His eyes met hers, and she gave him an apologetic smile. She sighed, got up from her chair and walked up the small stage to the podium. “Thank you,” she told the colonel, and accepted the award. It wasn’t as heavy as she’d thought. The design was simple crystal and reflected the light from the room, causing it to shine. The award looked more like a piece of art, and bared her father’s name on the small gold plaque at the bottom. Anthony Stark.  


Rhodey left the stage, leaving Gemma by herself, having to accept the award on her father’s behalf. “Thank you,” the fifteen-year old said into the microphone. “This is really wonderful,” she looked at the award then turned her gaze to the crowded room. “Good evening, as you can see, I’m not my father.” There was a light chuckle among the crowd. “He really wanted to be here, but the best thing about him is also worst thing. He is always working. I know that my father is deeply honored to receive this beautiful award. Thank you to all.” There was another round of applause, and Gemma left the stage with the award gripped tightly in her hand. She joined Obadiah Stane, Tony’s business partner and friend, and Rhodey at the table in the middle of the room. “You did great,” Obadiah said and Rhodey smiled as she sat down. Gemma knew Obadiah ever since she was little, but was never especially close to him. He had taken over the company when her grandparents died. Soon after Tony turned twenty-one, he became CEO and Obadiah was bumped down. The two still remained close of course, and when Gemma was born she’d see him on occasion. When Obadiah would come over or she’d see him at the office they’d only share short conversations. Coming back to reality, Gemma smiled back. She set the award down on the table, and leaned back on the plush chair, furious at her father. 

Two hours later, Gemma and Rhodey stormed into a luxurious casino. There were several people surrounding the noisy slot machines and playing poker and roulette. In the middle, about three dozen people were crowding around a large craps table. “Work it, work it!” She heard Tony’s voice in the middle of the crowd. She rolled her eyes and pushed her way through the crowd until she and Rhodey were on either side of him. “Oh hey guys,” he said nonchalantly, focusing on the game. “You are unbelievable!” she yelled at him despite the noisy cheering of the people around them. “Tony,” Rhodey spoke, a harsh tone in his voice. “I was told that if I presented you with an award you’d be deeply honored.”  


“And I am deeply honored. When do we do it?”  


“It’s right here.” Rhodey pointed to the award in Gemma’s hands. Tony looked up from the craps game at her. He wore a giant smirk, but his eyes seemed innocent. Gemma ignored his expression and shoved the award at his chest. “Now that wasn’t so hard was it?” he asked, then looked at the award. “Wow would you look at that? Don’t have any of those at home.” He had a mix of both sarcasm and boredom when he spoke. Tony set it down on the edge of the table and turned back to the game. Gemma rolled her eyes and groaned as she picked up the award. Just as he was about to roll, Tony held the dice up to Rhodey's face. "Give me a hand would you?" He asked. "I don't blow on a man's dice," he said sternly. She laughed at Rhodey's response, then Tony turned to her. "Come on honey!" He practically begged. She gave into her father, mostly because she just wanted to go home, and knew that it would take a while. She blew on the dice, giving him a glare and lightly knocked the dice out of his hands. Tony smirked and shifted his gaze to the dice. "And Gemma Stark rolls it and...” The dice slowed down on the table and everyone held their breath, but were disappointed at the outcome. "Two craps. Line away."  
"Worse things have happened," Rhodey told him as they exited the casino. The three walked through the lobby of the building. Gemma could see that there were flocks of reporters and paparazzi outside waiting for them. Great just what I need right now, she thought. "Tomorrow, don't be late," Rhodey said as he was exiting the other direction. He was referring to the weapons demonstration for a new missile taking place in Afghanistan. It was called the Jericho. Tony had spent the last couple months designing it. She wanted to go with him, as she helped design the weapon, but Tony didn’t want her to. At least Rhodey would be there with him. He was like a second father to Gemma, and she trusted him with her life. “You can count on it,” Tony replied. Rhodey glared at him. “I’m serious!”  


“Yeah, yeah, okay,” he waved him off. Gemma wanted to yell at him for his lack of appearance at the awards ceremony, but knew this wasn’t the time. She didn’t want an audience and this wasn’t exactly private. It would be humiliating if that story were in the tabloids. When they exited the bright building, she was hit with equally bright flashes of light, and people and reporters yelling, “Mr. Stark! Miss Stark!” She pushed her way through them, but halted abruptly when her father stopped at one reporter, a thin blond. The woman looked like she was in her mid-twenties and was wearing an expensive-looking business suit. “Christine Everhart, Vanity Fair Magazine. Can I ask you a couple of questions?” She spoke with a soft voice. Tony turned to Gemma. “She’s cute,” he said, and she just shrugged. He turned back to Christine. “Sure, fire away.”  


“You’ve been called the Da Vinci of our time. What do you say to that?”  


“Ridiculous, I don’t paint.” Gemma chuckled. He wasn’t wrong. He may be good at drawing up schematics, but he couldn’t paint for his life. “And what do you said about your other nickname? ‘The Merchant of Death,’” was Christine’s next question. “That’s not bad,” he replied. “Let me guess. Berkeley?”  


“Brown, actually,” she corrected him. Then they drawled on into conversation. She wasn’t really listening, until he mentioned her grandfather, Howard. She knew her father rarely talked about him, especially with some reporter who he’d just met. Gemma never knew him; he died before she was born. Tony did sometimes talk about how much he influenced World War Two, but mostly in public. He never talked about his and Howard’s private life, and least of all their relationship.  
Now, Gemma just wanted to go home and sleep. She signaled to her father that she was leaving with his body guard, Happy Hogan. She didn’t know if he’d seen or not. She traveled through the reporters and made her way to her dad’s car. He could find another way to get home. As she and Happy sped towards her Malibu home, a thought entered her mind. Christine would probably be coming home with her father.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, Gemma woke around seven, remembering her father was supposed to leave soon for Afghanistan. She wanted to go back to sleep not wanting to see Tony off. Not after what happened the night before, but something pulled her out of bed and into the shower. It was probably the fact that this was the only time she could talk to him about last night. After showering and getting dressed in dark denim shorts, and bright green tee shirt and a black cardigan, she went downstairs to the kitchen, assuming Tony would be eating. He wasn’t, and she could noise from the workshop downstairs. 

Gemma rolled her eyes. Of course he was down there, tinkering with whatever weapon he was creating next. There was no point in interrupting him. Once he was down there working on the next missile or weapon, there was no stopping him. She poured herself a bowl of cereal and took a seat at the kitchen island, reading the newspaper. 

“Tony?” She heard a soft voice say from the hallway sometime later. “Hey Tony?” The voice said again, this time closer. She looked up to see Christine Everhart coming down the steps into the living room. She was only wearing one of Tony’s button up shirt and her underwear. She rolled her eyes. Oh great. But she wasn’t surprised, Tony had been on a roll. First breaking his promise and then gambling. Why not take a random journalist to be as well? 

Christine went to go touch something on the wall when JARVIS’s voice chimed through the hall. “You are not authorized to access this area.” 

Christine jumped, making Gemma giggle. “That’s JARVIS, he runs the house,” she explained. The journalist glared at her. “Miss Stark,” she greeted bitterly. They both turned their attention to Pepper Potts, her father’s assistant, who approached the kitchen. Gemma smiled. Pepper was like a mother to her, and a best friend. She’d gotten the job when Gemma was seven, so it felt like she grew up with her in way. 

“Ms. Everhart, here are your clothes, they’ve been dry cleaned and pressed, and there’s a car outside that will take you anywhere you want to go,” Pepper chirped, holding out a hanger holding her clothes from the night before, covered in a plastic protecter. Christine smirked at Pepper. “You must be the famous Pepper Potts.”

“Indeed I am.” 

“After all these years, Tony still has you picking up the dry cleaning.”

“I do anything and everything that Mr. Stark requires. Including, occasionally, taking out the trash.” Pepper replied coolly, making Gemma smirk. She admired Pepper so much, for putting up with Tony and his one-night stands all the time. Not to mention keeping her dignity as well. Gemma looked back to Christine’s wide-eyed face and giggled. Christine shot her a glare. 

“Will that be all?” Pepper said, giving Christine a fake smile. Christine just strode past them, took her clothes from Pepper and slammed the door behind her. Gemma broke out into laughter, the got up from her chair to hug Pepper. “Happy birthday,” she told her. Pepper hugged back. “Thank you,” she said. Gemma smiled. “I got you something.” 

“You didn’t have to,” Pepper said while Gemma raced back to her room and returned with a hand-made card and a box that contained a silver tennis bracelet. “Oh it’s beautiful!” Pepper gasped when she opened the box. “Thank you.” Gemma smiled. “You’re very welcome.”

“Now we have to deal with your father,” Pepper said as she walked towards the stairs to the workshop. Oh right, she thought. He’s late. She checked the large clock in the kitchen. It was almost eight-thirty. He’s very, very late. His plane was supposed to leave an hour and a half ago. 

As they entered the workshop, she saw Tony working away with hologram schematics. “You are supposed to be half-way around the world!” Gemma exclaimed. Was he career a joke to him? “How’d she take it?” was all Tony said. “Like a champ,” Pepper replied, and then shared Gemma’s concern. “Your flight was scheduled to leave an hour and a half ago.”

“That’s funny, with it being my plane and all,” Tony said and Gemma rolled her eyes. “Dad!” she complained. “Don’t keep Rhodey waiting again. He’s going to be furious. You can’t just blow him off. Not after last night. And besides, you broke your promise to me.” 

“Okay, okay. Look! I’m going!” Tony said, getting up from his work station. “And where did you get that?” He pointed to Pepper’s birthday gift on her arm. “It was a gift from Gemma, for my birthday.” 

“It’s your birthday?” he asked. Gemma scoffed. “Yes” Pepper said. “I knew that. Already?”

“Really? Dad, you need to get going!” Tony started marching upstairs, Pepper following. “A couple things before you go…” Pepper told him. She started to list off events he had to attend, speeches he had to give and things like that. Of course Tony was brushing everything off, like he always did. Gemma met them at the top of the stairs, in foyer. Happy was waiting at the front door, with Tony’s suitcase. “Get yourself something nice from me.” Tony told Pepper, moving closer to her. “I already did.”

“And?” 

“It’s very tasteful. Thank you Mr. Stark.”

“You’re welcome Miss Potts.” Pepper smiled and the two looked into each other’s eyes. “Oh God, you guys!” Gemma groaned. Tony and Pepper laughed, her face flushed. Tony moved towards Gemma and hugged her tight. “Bye honey,” he said. “Bye, Dad. Stay safe, okay?” Gemma told him. “I will. I love you.”

“Love you, too.” Tony kissed the top of her head. “And when you get back we are going to have a discussion about you breaking promises!” Gemma added. “Maybe I should just stay there,” he said with a laugh. Gemma smiled. “You better not.”

He kissed her once more on the cheek and then said good bye to Pepper before leaving out the door. She could only imagine what Rhodey was going to say when Tony got to the plane. She checked the clock in the kitchen. He was almost two hours late.

Soon after her father left, Pepper went back to the office to work. Something about those engagements Tony had to go to. The mansion was quiet, with only the sound of the waves rushing up against the shore down on the beach. Gemma spent most of the day reading on the terrace. She loved to read almost anything, but mostly spy novels, like James Bond and Tom Clancy. If a book was good enough, she could finish it in a day. But, today she had trouble concentrating. All she could think about was her father’s weapons demonstration. Finally, she couldn’t sit still any longer and went down into the workshop and work on either the car she was restoring or the computer she was making. 

She had inherited Tony’s love of mechanics and technology, and working on these projects always calmed her mind. And, without a doubt, she also gained her father’s intelligence. She graduated from high school last summer, and was taking a couple years break before going to university. She had the intellect to go, but she felt too young. She thought that she would feel uncomfortable and out of place. She told Tony that she would wait until she was seventeen to go, and he agreed. Tony had told her that when he was at MIT, he was the youngest at fifteen and it had felt really weird. He said that he didn’t want to go at first, but Howard had made him and he got used to it after the first few months. He didn’t pay attention to the other students, who were sometimes twice his age. Tony had graduated two years later at the age of seventeen, the same year her grandparents, Howard and Maria died in a car crash.

Gemma had a salad she made for dinner, along with ordered Chinese. Pepper had said that she going to pick something up for them, but she must’ve got held up at the office. Cooking was something Tony was never really good at. Whenever he attempted to cook, which was quite seldom, it was a disaster, and actually quite funny. He once tried to make her dinner when she was younger, about four. When Gemma tried the meal, she promptly spit it out. After that, Tony used a various selection of cooking books. Gemma learned to cook when she was twelve, and made most of the meals if Tony didn’t get take out. After Gemma ate, she watched TV for a little while and then went to bed early. 

Gemma was awoken around four a.m. by someone coming in the front door. Getting up from her bed and trotting to the front foyer, she hoped it would be her father, but it was Pepper. Gemma stopped short. Pepper’s eyes were red and puffy and her hair was in a messy bun. She was wearing dark jeans and a white blouse, though it looked as if she threw on the first things she could find. “Pepper, what’s wrong?” Gemma asked, picking up her pace towards her. “Oh Genevieve,” Pepper said quietly, hugging her tightly. Something was very, very, wrong. Pepper only used her full name when she was mad at her or if she was very sad or worried. “It’s your father,” Pepper said, sniffing. Gemma’s heart stopped. Oh my God. Her mind started getting all these horrible ideas about what could’ve happened to him. The missile malfunctioned, it took out the platoon, he was injured, dying. 

“Pepper, what happened?” Gemma’s voice faltered, a lump in her throat. She looking Pepper in the eye. “Genevieve, he… he disappeared.”


	3. Chapter 3

Gemma couldn’t think straight. It was like her brain stopped working. “D-disappeared?” she managed to say. Pepper didn’t say anything, just nodded. Gemma’s breathing became heavy, uneven. “What do you mean by disappeared?” 

“His convoy was attacked. Many were killed, but the rescue crew couldn’t find his body in the wreckage. They think he was taken by the attackers.” Gemma shook her head, as if she would wake up from a bad dream. This couldn’t be happening. Her father had been fine a day ago. He'd been his happy, care-free - albeit a bit too care-free - childish self a day ago, and now… Her mind then traveled to a horrible thought. “Is he… dead?” It was hard for the words to come out of her mouth, like a child learning to read. Pepper gave her a sympathetic look. “We don’t think so, but it’s not certain. I’m so sorry. I know it's hard but you can’t get your hopes up, okay?” Gemma nodded into Pepper’s chest and started to cry. Pepper held her for a long time. She didn’t know exactly how long, but long enough to see the sun coming up from the horizon. 

“It’s going to be okay, okay?” Pepper told Gemma, breaking the long silence. Her shoulders were soaked with Gemma's tears. “We’ll get through this, whatever happens.” Gemma stayed silent for a minute, her thoughts hazy. Finally, she said, “Pepper, can you stay here for a while? Please?” 

“Oh of course, sweetie, of course,” she spoke softly. Gemma's arms went back around Pepper, so tight it felt as if she would crush her. If hug was hurting her, she didn't say anything. Pepper's held her as they sank to the wooden step in the foyer. Eventually, Gemma fell asleep in her arms.

 

The next few weeks were some of the hardest. Gemma hardly slept or ate. Whenever she tried to sleep, she would soon awake, haunted by nightmares of her father, dying, and of her being unable to prevent it. Everytime she tried to eat, her stomach would churn and food would become unable to force down. Her diet mostly consisted of carbs and the occasional apple. Nothing was appetizing. Not even her favourite dish: spinach lazagne, which Pepper had brought over one night a few days after Tony had gone missing in a futile attempt to cheer her up. 

All she could think about was her father, and what life would be like without him. Obadiah had been elected by the Stark Industries board as CEO after the first month, when they started to acknowledge the fact that Tony might be dead. Some members of the board wanted to know if she was planning on becoming the next CEO, to which others argued she was "too young" or "too inexperienced" or too this or too that... Gemma felt exhausted after these meetings, but she always defended herself, saying she would step up if it was demanded of her, and she was ready to learn, but right now... She couldn’t even think about running a company, much less the world-renowned Stark Industries. It was so much pressure, and she was planning to go to university withing the next two years. Tony had taught her a few things about the company, but Gemma didn’t think that they would be of much use. She liked to believe that Tony was still alive somewhere, but knew those chances were slim.

A few days after that first meeting, Rhodey flew back from his searching in Afghanistan to see her and Pepper. During the first month, he'd been calling her almost every week, updating her on their progress, though there was little. 

"I'm sorry I couldn't come earlier, Gemma," he said, kneeling in front of her in the foyer of the mansion. The house was dark by the lack of lights and the oncoming storm clouds. Behind Rhodey, she could see the occasional flash from a camera through the closed curtains on the front windows. It was like the paparazzi and reporters lived outside her house, like cheetas preying on gazelles. They all wanted to know what happened to Tony Stark, which, only select group of people knew of the terrorist theory. 

“It's okay, Rhodey. Just please find him,” Gemma said, clutching his hands. She was near tears, though it felt like she'd cried out enough tears to fill an ocean since her father's disappearance. 

“We are doing everything in our power. I promise,” he replied with a smile. She looked into his eyes and she knew Rhodey meant it. The two hugged for a while, Rhodey rubbing her back comfortingly. “Good luck, and be safe,” she said. He nodded and left the house to catch a flight back Afghanistan. She wanted to go with him to the airport, but that day, she didn't want to deal with the throngs of paparazzi. It only reminded her of her father. Gemma stayed inside most on the time, playing the same song on the beautiful grand piano by the staircase.

In the month that followed, there was still no sign of Tony. Rhodey continued to call every week to update her on any progress. There hadn’t been any. Obadiah called a meeting at Stark Industries one crisp morning. Gemma hadn't wanted to go, but Pepper insisted, as it had to do with her and the future of the company. She couldn't argue with her, and agreed. After she got out of the shower, she felt new and bright for a change. She put on a pair of black dress pants and a light blue blouse, leaving her long dark brown hair down. She and Pepper got in the back and the black Audi and Happy drove them to Stark Industries Headquaters. 

Upon arrival, crowds of reporters and paparazzi swarmed them. Gemma tried to ignore them, but they were all she could hear. “Miss Stark! Miss Stark!” they called. “Do you plan to take over Stark Industries?” 

“Do you think Tony Stark is dead?” I felt like forever until she reached the large glass doors of Stark Industries. As the doors closed behind her and Pepper, it was like all the chaos were silenced, as least for a little while. They went up to the 30th floor, which was used for press conferences and important meetings. The meeting room was very long, with floor-to-ceiling windows, with an expensive projector hanging from the ceiling. In the center was a long, shiny mahogany table, surrounded by black leather swivel-chairs. Sheer curtains were drawn along the windows that let enough sun in to light the room but shielded them from prying eyes. Obadiah sat at the head of the table, while the CFO, Laura Jameson sat at the other end. 

Gemma and Pepper took their seats near Obadiah and waited for everyone attending the meeting to come. Most of them were heads of various departments, and those who worked with Tony on a daily basis. “Thank you all for coming,” Obadiah’s loud voice started when everyone took their seats. “We are here to discuss the future of Stark Industries, after the tragic events two months ago. I have been appointed CEO by the members of the board, that is... if and until Ms. Stark has plans to take her father's place.” He turned to Gemma. “Gemma, do you plan to take over as CEO of Stark Industries?” All eyes were on her. She felt so pressured to give the right answer that she couldn’t think strait. It felt like a court sentencing. “As of now I don't have plans to take over as of now, as I want to finish university first...” she said slowly. “But I may change my mind in the future, and if I do I'm ready to learn before becoming CEO.” Pepper gave her a nod of approval. “Very well,” Obadiah replied, seeming to approve of her answer as well. Gemma smiled to herself. 

The rest of the meeting were discussions about new weapons, money proceeds and similar topics. It went on for another hour or so. Gemma found it hard to listen to and fluttered her eye lids a few times to keep herself awake. As she and Pepper left the building, they were once again surrounded by a mob of reporters. Obadiah exited a few seconds later and immediately started talking to a few reporters. But it seemed like the majority were focuses on her. “Miss Stark! Do you think your father is dead?” one of them asked again. For the first time in two months, she answered the question. She turned to the reporter and said, “I still believe that my father is alive somewhere, and even though the chances are becoming slimmer, I will never lose hope. One must always have hope in situations like these.” Gemma got in the car, and they drove home. 

The next morning, as Gemma groggily entered the kitchen for an eleven a.m. breakfast, the paper was laying on the kitchen island, as if someone had put it there for her. On the front page was a picture of her from the meeting the day before, making her way to the car. The head line read: One Must Always Have Hope. 

 

The rest of the month withered away, turning two long months into three. Everyone was starting to lose faith that Tony was still alive. Rhodey had told Gemma that they’d closed in on a possible location in which Tony might be, but they haven’t picked up any sign of him. Gemma was always hopeful, but tried not to be too let down when they didn’t find him. 

One humid morning, nearing the end of the third month of her father's disappearance, Gemma was at the kitchen island, hair in a loose bun and wearing gray sweat pants, and a baggy tee shirt. It was almost eight p.m. and she was reading the paper. Tony Stark still missing. Will Daughter Genevieve Stark to be the next CEO?, the headline read. She sighed. She wished the media would leave the case alone, but knew that was not possible. This was the fifth time this month that there had been something Stark-related in the paper, and on the news. Pepper was still not back from the office yet. She must be stuck in some meeting. Pepper had been staying longer lately, most likely dealing with formalities about the company, or- Gemma hated to think about it- job hunting. 

Pepper came back and hour later, while Gemma was getting ready for bed. “Gemma!” she called from the foyer. “What is it?” She rushed out, thinking something was wrong but Pepper looked fine, better than fine. “Gemma, they found him.”


	4. Chapter 4

Gemma couldn’t sit still. It was around eight am the next morning, and she and Pepper in a limousine that was taking them to the airport to meet Tony. She had almost been in shock last night when Pepper told her the news. “They… they what?” she had asked Pepper, just to make sure that she’d heard her correctly. “They found your father, Gemma! They found Tony,” Pepper had replied. “Oh, my God!” she breathed, and then started to cry for joy and hugged Pepper tightly. 

“Are we almost there?” Gemma asked impatiently, looking out the tinted window. Pepper held her hands. “Don’t worry, Gemma, we’ll be there soon,” she said with a calm voice. “Will there be reporters and paparazzi there?” she asked worriedly. “There will most like bely a few,” Pepper replied. She only nodded and continued to look out the window. 

They arrived at the airport fifteen minutes later. When Gemma got out of the limousine, she was hit by the bright sunlight reflecting off the white jet door that was slowly descending. She felt her heart beat faster and faster until she saw her father for the first time in three long months. He had a few cuts and bruises and his face, and his right arm was wrapped in bandages supported by a sling. She started to sob again and ran over to Tony, almost knocking him over with her hug. “I thought I’d never see you again,” Gemma sobbed into Tony’s shirt. “Oh honey, I missed you so much,” Tony told her while kissing the top of her head repeatedly. “You promised you’d stay safe,” she laugh-sobbed. “I’m here now, it’s okay.” He chuckled lightly and they walked towards the limousine that Gemma had arrived in, Tony’s left arm over her shoulder. “Your eyes are red,” Tony noted as they approached Pepper. “A few tears for your long-lost boss?”

“Tears of joy,” she replied. “I hate job hunting.”

“Yeah, well vacation’s over,” Tony said and Gemma nudged him in the stomach. He gave her a serious look, but she just smiled. All three got into the back of limousine. She sat beside Tony, and Pepper sat across. A moment later Happy asked where they wanted to go. Gemma knew. She wanted to go home and reconnect with her father after three months of stress and fear. But she knew that Tony probably had to through government formalities and probably to the hospital as well. “To the hospital,” Pepper relied, confirming her thoughts. She groaned to herself. “No is a complete answer.” Tony said. “The doctor has to look at you!” Pepper almost cried. She looked at Tony and Gemma could see that there was major concern in her eyes. As much as she wanted to disagree with Pepper, she couldn’t. “Dad, you’ve been in captivity for three months!” It pained her to say those words. “There are two things I want to do,” Tony started. “I want and American cheese burger, and-”

“ Oh god, Dad!” Gemma complained, having an idea on the second thing her father wanted. “It’s not what you think. I want you to call a press conference,” he said, looking at Pepper. Gemma’s eyes widened. “A press conference? Now?” She questioned. “What on Earth for?” Pepper demanded. But all he said was “Hogan, drive. Cheeseburger first.” Gemma rolled her eyes and relaxed in her seat. 

They arrived at the Stark Industries conference room forty-five minutes later. There was applause from the reporters who were filling the large room as the three entered. Obadiah was standing on the other side of the room, talking to a couple employees. They all grew quiet and turned to Tony as he made his way to the podium. Gemma saw a man wearing a black suit with slim sunglasses approach her and Pepper. “Miss Potts, Miss Stark?” the man asked, lifting his sunglasses. Up close he looked like he was in his early-forties. “Can I talk to you for a minute?” he asked. “We’re not a part of the conference. It’s about to start momentarily,” Pepper told the man. “I’m not a reporter. I’m agent Phil Coulson with the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division.”

“That’s quite a mouthful,” Gemma said, chuckling. ‘We’re working on it,” Phil replied. “You know, we’ve been approached already by the DOD, the FBI, the CIA…” she added. 

“We’re a separate division with a more specific purpose,” Phil said. She raised her eyebrows. She’d never heard of this division before, they must like to keep themselves secret. “We need to debrief Mr. Stark on the circumstances of his escape,” he continued. “I’ll something in the book, shall I?” Pepper said happily. Phil thanked her, and then exited the building. Gemma wondered why this division would want to debrief him, if there were many other branches of government that were doing the same. What had happened back there? What had Tony done in Afghanistan to attract the attention this division. 

“Would it be alright if everyone just sat down?” Tony called out to the room. Gemma rolled her eyes and chuckled as she stayed leaning against the wall in the back. “That way it’s less formal, and you can see me.” Tony turned to Obadiah. “I never got to say good bye to Dad,” he said, almost inaudibly. He turned back to the crowd. “I never got to say good bye to my father,” he said, louder so that everyone could hear him. “And for a while I thought that, with my daughter Gemma here, she would have been in the same situation.” He wiped a tear from his eye, which made her eyes tear as well. “There are questions I would’ve asked him, my father. I would have asked him how he felt about what this company did. If he was conflicted, if he ever had doubts. Or if he was every inch the man we all remember from the newsreels.” There was a slight chuckle among the crowd. Tony looked down at his feet then back up again, this time with a much more serious expression. “I saw young Americans by the very weapons I created to defend them and protect them.” 

The entire room quietly gasped. Gemma covered her mouth with her hand, shocked. “And I saw,” Tony continued, “that I had become a part of a system that is comfortable with zero accountability.” 

“Mr. Stark!” One of the reporters rose. “What happened over there?”

“I had opened my eyes. I came to realize that I have more to offer this world than just making things blow up. That is why, effective immediately, I am shutting down the weapons manufacturing division of Stark International.” There was a collective uproar in the room. All the reporters rose to their feet, asking questions at the same time. Gemma stood at the back with her mouth hanging open. She could barely see past the crowd of reporters to Obadiah, whose eyes wider than she’d ever seen them. He rushed up to Tony, and tried to cover up his statement. “Until such a time as I can decide what the future of the company will be,” Tony spoke over the crowd. He got down from the podium, Obadiah following closely behind. They came over to Gemma and Pepper and all four walked outside into the warm summer air. “Are you crazy?” Gemma yelled at Tony. “Don’t worry honey, I got this all figured out,” he replied, placing his hand on her shoulder. “You’d better,” she sighed. Tony shifted his gaze to Pepper. “Pep, came you take Gemma home? I have to talk with Obie.”

“Wha- Dad! You just got back!” She wanted to slap him. “I’ll be home soon,” he reassured her and kissed her cheek. “Come on, Gemma,” Pepper ushered her into the limousine, and went home, once again furious with her father. 

 

An hour later Tony came home, took a shower and went down into the workshop. Gemma went to go check on him, and saw something glowing from underneath his white tank top. “What is in your chest?” she asked hesitantly. He looked down at it and back to her. “It’s an arc reactor.” 

“You mean like that giant reactor project that ended up being a dead-end?” 

“Yep, only a miniaturized version,” Tony answered. Gemma looked down and sighed. She sat beside her father. “Dad, what happened over in Afghanistan?” she asked, her voice was shaky. “I was riding in a Humvee and it was attacked,” he started, clutching her hands. “I blacked out. When I woke I was in a cave. The arc reactor was in my chest attached to a car battery. There was a lot of shrapnel in my chest; it kept it from entering my heart. The man who was held captive with me, Yinsen made it. He saved my life.

“The terrorists wanted me to make the Jericho missile, the one I demonstrated. They had all these Stark Industry weapons. But instead of making the missile, I made an upgraded arc reactor and a suit. A massive metal suit so I could escape and it managed to work.”

“Did Yinsen escape too?” she asked, ever so hopeful. Tony sighed. “Unfortunately, he didn’t. He’s with his family now.” She nodded and then hugged him. “Oh Dad, I missed you so much,” she said. “I missed you too, baby,” he replied, kissing her forehead. He continued to hold her. Her mind traveled back to her father’s injuries. “Is your life… um, does it um…” she couldn’t find the right words. “Don’t worry, honey,” he reassured her. “It can run my heart for fifty lifetimes. Gemma, I am so proud of you for making it through these past months.” He looked at her, and she could see tears come to his eyes. “Thanks, Dad,” she said, sniffling. “Now you should go to bed. I’m sure you need the rest.” He kissed her again and then she said, “Okay Dad. I love you.” 

“I love you too,” he replied. Gemma scurried up the stairs and went to her room. She changed from her dark jeans and Polo shirt to her comfy pajamas. She washed her face, which felt like she was washing off the day’s events. She climbed into her queen-sized bed, pulled the fluffy duvet over her shoulders, and for the first time in what felt like forever, she was able to sleep without fear.


	5. Chapter 5

“Miss Stark, Miss Potts is requesting your presence in the workshop.” JARVIS’s soft British voice told her over the house intercom the next morning. Gemma was relaxing on the couch, watching a TV program featuring a segment about Stark Industries’ dropping stock points. She sighed, got up from the couch in the living room and made her way downstairs. When she got to the workshop she tapped in her pass code, and the glass door slid open. Tony was on a hospital-like bed, attached to a steady-beeping heart monitor. Pepper was beside him, looking into the metal hole in his chest. Before Gemma could ask what was going on, Tony asked her to show him her hands. “Why?” she asked, confused. “Just do it,” he replied and she held them up. “Oh, Pepper you are right, they are pretty small.” Gemma scoffed. “What’s this all about?”

“I need to swap this antique with an upgraded version. There’s just a little speed bump.” Tony told her. He held a bright new arc reactor. Gemma approached him. “What’s wrong?” she asked, while looking at the hole in her father’s chest. “There’s an exposed wire under this device. And it’s contacting the socket wall causing a little bit of a short,” he looked at Pepper, handing her a wire that was connected to a coil. “Put that on the table over there, that’s irrelevant,” he told her.

“Gemma,” he continued. “I want you to reach in, and gently lift the wire out.”

“Why can’t Pepper do it?” She complained. “Because she chickened out, and your hands are smaller.” Tony argued. She groaned, and then asked, “Is it safe?” 

“Yeah, should be fine. It’s like Operation, just don’t let the wire touch he socket wall or I goes ‘beep’,” he instructed. “Should be fine?” Gemma cried. She looked into the metallic socket again, feeling a rush of anxiety. She reached in slowly, then removed her hand quickly, asking, “Are you sure I’m qualified to do this?” 

“No, you’re fine. You are the most capable, qualified, trustworthy person I know. You’re going to do great,” he reassured her. She smiled, regaining her confidence. She reached into the socket. It was cold, and she couldn’t exactly see where her hand was or where the wire was. Suddenly, she felt a slimy, gelatinous liquid cover her hand. “Oh there’s pus!” She gagged. She heard Pepper chuckle behind her and she glared, but Pepper just smiled. “It’s not pus. It’s an inorganic plasmic discharge from the device, not my body,” Tony corrected her. “That doesn’t make me feel better!” Gemma responded.

She continued to move her hand around in the socket, until she touched the slim copper wire. “I got it! I got it,” she told her father. She started to lift it up slowly. The wire slipped from her hand, but she quickly caught it, accidentally touching the wall of the socket. There was a loud buzzing sound, and Tony groaned in pain. “Sorry! Sorry,” she apologized. “It’s okay, now make sure when you pull it out, you don’t…” but before he could finish, she pulled the wire out, along with a coil attached at the end. “There’s a magnet at the end of it! That was it, you just pulled it out,” he said, nervously. “Dad! What do I do?” She looked at him with concern. The heart monitor was beeping faster and faster. “What’s wrong?” Pepper asked from behind her. “Nothing, I’m just going into cardiac arrest,” he answered nonchalantly. 

“What?! You said this would be safe!” Gemma was freaking out. “Here take this,” Tony said handing her the bright, upgraded arc reactor. “You need to attach it to the base plate,” he instructed her. “Dad, dad it’s going to be okay, okay?” She said, breathing heavy and fast, her heart beating quickly. All he did was nod, and she reached in once again. She wasn’t even sure how it happened, but she managed to attach the arc reactor to the base plate and the beeping of the heart monitor slowed. She took in a deep breath and relaxed. 

“See? That wasn’t so hard, was it?” Tony asked, smiling. “Are you okay?” Both Gemma and Pepper said at once. “I’m fine,” he responded. Gemma sighed. “Don’t ever, ever ask me to do something like that again!” She said, glaring at her father. He finished installing the arc reactor and got up the bed. “Get Pepper to do it next time,” she added jokingly. Pepper had the previous version of the arc reactor in her hands, and she asked Tony what to do with it. “Destroy it, incinerate it,” he answered, putting a white tee-shirt on. “You don’t what to keep it?” Pepper asked. “Pepper, I’ve been called a lot of things. ‘Nostalgic’ is not one of them.” Gemma nodded in agreement. 

“Will that be all, Mr. Stark?” Pepper asked sweetly. “That will be all, Miss Potts,” he replied. She left the workshop, leaving Gemma and Tony alone. “I have to go see Rhodey okay?” He told her. “I’ll be back in a couple of hours.” She nodded, watching Tony get into one of the many parked cars and drove out. 

She sat in the workshop for a while, taking in her surroundings. It was the first time she really looked at the work shop in a while. Her father’s sports and antique cars all lined up a row. There was a small, faint scratch on a navy-blue Audi. She laughed to herself. It had happened when she was seven years old, and one of her robot inventions that had little too much speed accidentally smashed right into the car. Gemma had been so worried that Tony would be furious at her but he shrugged it off and said, “Don’t worry honey, we can fix it.” They never really fixed it. He’d told her he kept it faint because he liked the memory. 

She heard the front door close from upstairs. Pepper must’ve gone back to the office. Gemma went back upstairs, into the warm living room. She sat down in front of the large, flat screen TV, turning in on. A female news reporter appeared on the screen. “-Tony Stark’s odd announcement at the press conference yesterday, claiming that there will no longer be any weapons production. The company has given no official statement, but people are saying that it’s all going downhill from-” she turned it off, not wanting to deal with any company-related issues at the moment. She had been very confused when Tony finished his speech at the press conference, but she’d trusted him all her life. She knew that he would do what’s best, even if everyone else thought he was crazy.

Grabbing her book she was currently reading, she went out on the back deck and sat on the comfy lawn chair. The warm air embraced her and she suddenly felt more relaxed. Further away on the beach there were people playing volleyball, and kids making sand castles. She opened her book, and slowly drifted into sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

Gemma woke up to the sound of a car driving into the garage. “Mr. Stark has arrived,” JARVIS’s voice chimed. She went down to the workshop, seeing Tony sitting at his desk. He was looking at a hologram of what looked like a bulky metal suit. “JARVIS, you up?” he asked. “For you sir, always,” the British voice replied. She chuckled then walked towards her father’s desk. “What are you working on?” she asked. “Something big,” he replied. “JARVIS, I’d like to open a new project file, index as Mark Two.” Tony started to pull away layers of the bulky suit hologram. “Are you going to make another suit?” she inquired. “Not another suit, a better suit,” he said, smiling at her.

“Shall I store this on the Stark Industries central database?” JARVIS’s voice chimed in again. “Actually I don’t know who to trust right now,” Tony said. “Until further notice, why don’t we keep everything on my private server?” 

“Working on a secret project, are we, sir?” JARVIS asked, humorously. “I don’t want it falling into the wrong hands. In mine, it might actually do some good.” Tony then turned to Gemma. “Would you like to help me?” 

“With the suit?” she asked. “Of course,” he told her. She smirked, and then agreed. It had been so long since both of them worked together. She really liked it when they did, it was the only real bonding time they got.

 

Over the next few weeks, Gemma and Tony had planned out the Mark Two suit, and started to build the boots, which they planned to create with the ability to fly. Even with Tony causing chaos within Stark Industries, he’d managed to spend a lot of time at home with her. One afternoon, the two were ready to test the boots. Tony stood in the middle of the work shop, on a green mat. Gemma stood at his desk looking at the hologram schematic of the slim metal boot. “Dummy, look alive. You’re on standby for fire safety,” he told the faceless, cylinder robot. “You ready Dad?” she asked, crossing her arms. He nodded. “We’re going to start off nice and easy,” he said. “Don’t start with the power level too high,” she informed him. “Start at less than ten percent.” 

“Come on, where’s the fun in that?” Gemma rolled her eyes. “Start at ten percent thrust capacity,” Tony said. “But dad-”

“In three, two, one.” The next few seconds seemed to happen too quickly. Tony was forced off the ground, and collided with the cement wall above the cars. He hit the ground with a thud, and Gemma rushed over to him. “Oh my God, Dad!” Her eyes were huge. “Are you okay?” she asked. He was lying on the ground, eyes wide, like he was in shock. “Yeah, I’m fine,” he managed to say. She took in a deep breath. “Next time, listen to me, okay?” she asked him fiercely. “Yeah, next time I’ll listening to you,” he responded. She started to laugh “What?” he asked, poking her arm. “You!” 

“What about me?” He got up and walked over to his desk and took off the boots. “I’ve been buzzing you. Haven’t you heard the intercom?” a voice said from behind them. Pepper stood in the door way of the workshop. “Yeah, everything’s…” he trailed off. “What is it?” Gemma cut in. “Obadiah’s upstairs,” she told them. Gemma looked at her father, and then went from the cool workshop to the warmth of the living room. Obadiah stood near the loveseat, a piece of pizza in his hand. She greeted him, and took a piece of pizza from the box on the coffee table. Within minutes, Tony and Pepper joined them. Pepper sat down on the loveseat, going through some papers, and Gemma stood beside Tony. “It went that bad, huh?” Tony said. He was referring to the board of directors meeting that took place in New York for Stark Industries. Tony would’ve attended, but since his change of plans at the press conference, Obadiah told him he could handle the board. “Just because I brought pizza back from New York, doesn’t mean it went bad,” Obadiah explained. She rolled her eyes. “Sure it doesn’t,” Tony said sarcastically. 

Obadiah sighed, and wiped his forehead with his hand. “It would have been better if you were there,” Obadiah reasoned. This confused Gemma. Earlier, he had told Tony to avoid the public, at least until he got the whole no-weapons thing figured out. “You told me to lay low. That’s what I’ve been doing,” Tony said, as if reading her thoughts. “This was a board of directors meeting,” Obadiah said. “This was a board of directors meeting?” Tony asked. It was like he was oblivious to what was happening in his own company. “You know what, never mind. It’s probably better that you hadn’t gone,” he sighed. “The board is claiming you have post-traumatic stress.” This didn’t surprise her. Whenever the board didn’t agree with something Tony said to the public, they somehow found a way to make an excuse so it didn’t happen. Sure, he took a big risk, but maybe it was the right risk. “They’re filing an injunction. They want to lock you out,” Obadiah continued. “What?” Gemma asked. “They can’t do that!” Tony rubbed her arm to comfort her. “They- they want to lock me out because the stock’s dropped forty points?” Tony asked, half chuckling. 

“Fifty-six and a half,” Pepper informed them from the loveseat. Tony shot her a not helping look, while Gemma just smirked. Gemma went to her room to change from her jeans and tank top to her bright pajamas. When she got back down, she could still here her father and Obadiah bickering. They were going on about Tony’s latest project, even though he wouldn’t tell Obadiah what it was. She stayed in the hallway until Tony went back down to the workshop, and Obadiah left, slamming the door as he went.


	7. Chapter 7

“Day eleven, test thirty seven, configuration two point zero, for lack of a better option,” Tony said, standing in the middle of the green mat in the workshop. It had been two days since Obadiah had come over, and he and Gemma were testing out the boots again. She was standing by the camera recording the test, anxiously waiting to see if all the work paid off. “Dummy is on fire safety,” he continued, shifting his gaze to the robot. “If you douse me again, and I’m not on fire, I’m donating you to a city college,” he said sternly. She laughed at his comment. “Just going to start off at one percent thrust capacity,” he said, nodding at her. Neither Gemma nor Tony wanted a repeat of last time. “In three, two, one.” Tony was lifted about ten inches off the ground for a couple seconds. She was amazed and proud. “We did it!” She exclaimed, ran over to Tony and gave him a hug. “Yes, we did,” he agreed. “Let’s try at two point five thrust capacity.” 

Gemma backed away from Tony, giving him some room. “Three, two, one.” He was lifted higher off the ground, and started hovering in the direction of his desk. It was clear he didn’t know how to control the boots yet. “Okay, this is where I don’t want to be,” he said, as all the papers blew off his desk. Gemma’s eyes grew wide as he started to hover towards their collection of cars. “Dad watch out!” she cried but the heat and exhaust from the boots already made contact with the hood of the 1967 Shelby Cobra. “Not the car, not the car!” he said, trying to pull away from it. He landed within the next thirty seconds, looked at Gemma and said, “Yeah, I can fly.”

 

It took Gemma and Tony about three weeks to finish the rest of the suit. It was considerably less bulky that the Mark 1, with the same flight stabilizers in the gloves that were in the boots, and a slim helmet that was able to show information for just about anything, with just one look. She was very proud of what she and Tony accomplished.

It was the night of the annual Stark Industries Charity Gala, and Gemma was already in a mid-length silk lavender dress that had a sparkly mesh-like cover over the skirt. Her hair was curled and lay daintily on her left shoulder. “Gemma,” Tony said in amazement when she entered the workshop before leaving. “You look beautiful.” She smiled. He was in the metal suit, getting ready to give it a final test. “Are you sure you’re not going to come?” she asked. “No, I’ve got to test this baby out,” he replied, gesturing to the suit. “But you and Pepper go have some fun. Okay let’s do this.”

The mask dropped from the helmet, covering his face. “JARVIS are you there?” His voice was deeper and a little more robotic from the suit. “At your service, sir,” the AI replied. He told JARVIS to start doing tests to make sure the helmet and the suit were functioning properly. From what Gemma saw, everything seemed to be working. “Test complete, preparing to power down to begin diagnostics,” JARVIS informed them. “Tell you what, do a weather and ATC check. Start listening in on ground control,” Tony told the AI. She realized what he wanted to do. “Dad, you can’t fly now! We still don’t how the suit will react!” I told him. The last thing she wanted was for him to get hurt because the suit malfunctioned. “Sir,” JARVIS chimed in. “Miss Stark is correct. There are still terabytes of calculations needed before an actual flight is-” 

“Honey, JARVIS,” Tony cut in. “Sometimes you have to run before you can walk.” Gemma rolled her eyes. “Just be careful!” 

“Don’t worry. Ready? In three, two, one.” Tony hovered above the ground, and then flew out the garage in the cool night air. She ran out to see the suit fly with such speed. Above her, the starts twinkled in the indigo sky, and the suit traveled through the air with a trail of light following behind. She smiled. Soon the suit became just a mere twinkle of light, as it flew higher and higher in to the sky. Gemma wondered what he doing, and got worried when she could no longer see the light of the boots and helmet in the sky. Abruptly, she could see the suit come down again into view, but there was no light coming from it, and it looked like it was falling instead of flying. 

Oh my God, she thought as the suit continued to fall. “JARVIS, what’s going on?” she called to the AI. “It appears that there has been a build-up of ice on the suit, Miss Stark.” 

“Oh my God,” this time she said it aloud. She ran back outside, but she couldn’t see the suit anywhere. She jumped when she heard a loud crash come from the house. She ran cautiously into the workshop, just in time to see Tony crash through the ceiling, right onto one of the cars. “Dad!” she cried. “Are you okay? What were you thinking?” Before he could answer, Pepper came storming though the workshop door. “Tony Stark! What the hell were you doing?” 

“I can explain…” he tried to answer them both but Pepper interrupted. “You know what? Just clean this up and you can explain everything when Gemma and I get back.” Gemma looked at her father, who was slowly getting up from the dent he created. Pepper was already halfway up stars by the time she caught up with her. She and Pepper left the house with Happy in the black limousine, leaving Tony in the house which now had a now had a giant hole in it.

Forty-five minutes later, Gemma was in the busy ball room, surrounded by Stark Industries executives, celebrities, and other aristocrats. When they’d arrived at the gala, the press had attacked them with questions. “Miss Stark! Is Tony suffering from post-traumatic stress?”

“How do you feel about your father’s change of plans?” 

“Is Tony going to attend this evening?” She just ignored their questions and entered the crowed building. She was now standing to the side of the massive room, near the entrance sipping raspberry ginger ale. She could see Pepper talking to a couple of the board members. She was wearing a long navy blue silk dress with an open back and thin straps. It was the dress she got herself as a birthday present from Tony. 

She could here Obadiah outside, talking to a reporter about the company’s future, as well as trying to cover up Tony’s new plan for it. The paparazzi interrupted her thoughts when she heard them call, “Mr. Stark! Mr. Stark!” from outside. She finished her drink, and then went outside to see her father walk up the stairs, taking in the admiration of the crowd. Gemma smirked, and then approached him at the top step. “I thought you said you wouldn’t be coming,” she said. “Yeah well, I decided I should probably attend my own event,” he replied, making her chuckle. 

He put his arm around her shoulder and she held it. Everything felt right. They stood there for a minute, letting the reporters and paparazzi take pictures. “Look at you, what a surprise.” Obadiah said, coming up beside Tony. “I’ll see you inside,” Tony brushed him off. Obadiah turned his head to Tony, giving him a glare. “Hey, listen. Take it slow alright? I think I’ve got the board right where we want them.”

“You got it. Just cabin fever. I’ll just be a minute,” he replied, and Obadiah left to into the ball room. Gemma and Tony stood there for a few more minutes. They answered a couple of the reporter’s questions and went inside. The two of them walked through the mess of people in the ball room, occasionally stopping to greet people. After about ten minutes they made it to the bar. Tony ordered a scotch, and was about to ask her a question when the agent from the press conference greeted them. “Mr. Stark? Miss Stark,” he said. “Yeah?” Tony asked. “Agent Coulson,” he introduced himself. It took Tony a couple of seconds to remember. “Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, the guy from the…” 

“Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division,” Gemma finished for him. “God, you need a new name for that,” Tony said, sipping his scotch. “Yeah, I hear that a lot,” he started. “Listen, I know this must be a trying time for you, but we need to debrief you.” He still hasn’t done that? Gemma thought. Agent Coulson continued. “There are still a lot of unanswered questions and time can be a factor with these things. Let’s just put something in the books. How about in two days at seven p.m. at Stark Industries?”

“Tell you what? You got it. You’re absolutely right,” Tony said. He was eying someone across the room. Gemma followed his gaze and realized that he was staring at Pepper. He then looked back to her and Agent Coulson. “Well I’m going to go over to my assistant, and we’ll make a date,” he told him, striding over to his assistant. “How do you deal with him?” Agent Coulson asked Gemma when Tony was no longer in earshot. 

“Seriously, I don’t even know,” she replied. As Agent Coulson left, she watched her father and Pepper dance slowly. Her feet started to hurt from standing all night and went to the balcony. The cool air hugged her skin when she got outside and she sat down on a wooden bench. She looked up at the sky. Faint stars twinkled above her. 

Pepper and Tony’s dialogue broke her thoughts. They were a few feet from her, talking. Pepper clearly looked uncomfortable, and Tony tried to reassure her. He then exited the balcony in a swift motion. “What’s the matter?” Gemma asked, walking over to her. “Oh, it’s nothing really,” Pepper replied. Gemma gave her the I-know-something’s-really-the-matter look, and Pepper said, “Okay! We were dancing a little too… intimately,” she said. “I mean, he’s my boss for god’s sake!”

“That’s Dad for you,” Gemma said. The two talked for a couple more minutes, but Pepper then excused herself to go see what was taking Tony so long. From the balcony, Gemma observed the busy room. In the center, people were dancing in expensive tuxedos and beautiful dresses. She recognized one of Tony’s business friends drinking red wine and chatting with some people she thought were from another company. She couldn’t see Tony or Obadiah or Pepper anywhere in the room. 

Gemma left the balcony into the hot, sticky air to find at least one of them. She traveled through the crowds for about ten minutes, occasionally mingling with business executives. She unexpectedly felt a hand on her should and jumped. When she turned around, it was only her father, and he looked very unsettled. “There you are!” she breathed. “We’re leaving,” he told her sharply. “What? Why? What’s wrong?” she questioned as they hastily walked to the entrance of the building. “I’ll tell you in the car,” he said. “What about Pepper?” she asked looking back at the crowded room. “She’s going to stay here and for a while longer,” he replied. They got outside, and waited for the valet to bring the car. The grey Audi finally arrived after what felt like years. Gemma got into the passenger seat of the car while Tony turned on the ignition. “What happened?” she asked after a moment of silence. “Obadiah has been selling weapons to Afghanistan, more specifically Gulmira,” he told her. She was shocked. It was unfathomable to believe that Obadiah was selling Stark Industry weapons to Afghanistan. How could the board approve that and not tell her father? Did the board even know?

Tony handed her two pictures. When she held the glossy paper she saw the company’s weapons in the middle, surrounded by a foreign-looking dessert. After what Tony told her, she assumed that this was in Gulmira. The weapons were being used by terrorists. “How can the company do that? Who’d approved that?!” She found the words spill out of her. “Obadiah found a way to approve it, and he was the one who filed the injunction against me,” he said, taking his eyes off the road for a couple seconds to look at her. 

Gemma was speechless. She knew that Tony trusted Obadiah with his life. She on the other hand, was never close with Obadiah but she still trusted him enough to make the right decisions for the company. She looked down at the pictures in her lap, then back to Tony. “What are you going to do?” she asked as they pulled up to their massive house “I’m going to take control of my company.”


	8. Chapter 8

Rhodey came over the next morning. He had to talk to Tony about a couple things, mostly likely concerning Tony’s previous engagement with the terrorists, but Gemma didn’t know for sure. She’d been in her room all morning, using her computer to research who could’ve received a shipment of Stark Industries weapons in Gulmira. By midday, she had enough of staring at the bright screen. “JARVIS, where is Dad?” she asked the AI. “Mr. Stark is located in the workshop,” it replied. “Thanks.”

Gemma scurried down to the workshop, passing Rhodey in the kitchen as she went. Tony was in near the exit of the garage, dressed in the red and yellow metal suit when she entered. “What are you doing?” she asked cautiously. “I’m going to… deal with a couple of company issues,” he said. She sighed. She knew all too well that he was going to deal with the weapons in Gulmira, and if he actually told her flat out she’d freak out. “Okay, just be careful,” she said simply said, approaching Tony until she was directly in front of him. “You sound like my mother,” he joked. “That’s because sometimes you act like a child,” she replied, chuckling. He kissed her on the forehead and said, “I’ll be back soon.” Within seconds, the helmet dropped and he flew out of the garage, into the sky. 

Gemma went back to the kitchen, taking a seat beside Rhodey at the kitchen island. “Hey kiddo,” he greeted her. “Where did Tony go?” 

“He had to deal with some company issues,” she replied smoothly. They talked for another hour, and were interrupted by Rhodey’s cell. He answered it, and then hung up in a matter of seconds. “I need to go in to work. There’s some sort of issue,” he told her getting up from his seat. “Would you like to come?” The question surprised her, but she said yes and went in Rhodey’s car to the base. 

Soon after they walked into a small room filled with people shouting all at once. Gemma had no idea what was going on. She felt a little overwhelmed by all the noise. “We ran an ID check and cross-referenced with all known data bases. We have nothing,” a tall man told Rhodey as they entered. He stood still, and she clung beside him. “Any high altitude surveillance in the region?” he asked. “We’ve got an AWAC and a Global Hawk in the area,” the man informed him. She started to drift from the conversation and focused on the large screen at the front of the room. The image wasn’t close up, but there were flashes of something red, a trail of light behind it. “Oh my god,” she said quietly when she realized what all the commotion was about. Her stomach churned. The government found the suit, and her father was in it. 

Gemma’s attention shifted from the screen to Rhodey, who was on the phone. “Speaking of funny,” he said into the phone. “We’ve got a weapons depot that was blown up a few clicks from where you were being held captive.” He was talking to Tony. There was a pause, and then he said, “Why do you sound out of breath?” Her mind started spinning and she felt hot. She didn’t know what to do. She wanted to tell Rhodey that it was her father in the suit, but maybe that would make the situation worse for Tony. Something caught her attention on the screen again. It was the suit, but it was being followed by two fighter jets. Her mind was screaming and she started to breathe too quickly. “Gemma, are you okay?” Rhodey asked from behind her. She turned around to face him, nodded weakly and turned back to the screen. This was getting to chaotic for her. She had to tell him the truth. She walked up back beside Rhodey, and tapped his shoulder. “Rhodey, I need to tell something-” she started but was cut off by one of the pilots over the speaker yelling, “It’s on your belly!” 

The jet flipped and revealed the shiny red and yellow suit, clinging on to the bottom of the jet. “It looks like a… man!” one of the men in the room yelled. Everyone looked at the screen quizzically. The jet started to spin very quickly to try and get the suit off, and Gemma held her breath. Tony detached from the jet and slammed right through the other’s wing, breaking it off. “Holy crap!” she breathed. “I’m hit! I’m hit!” The pilot of the now one-winged jet exclaimed. The pilot ejected from the plane, tumbling through sky. She thought that the pilot was supposed to deploy a parachute, but nothing happened. “Whiplash Two, do you see a chute?” one of the men asked the pilot. “Negative, no chute! No chute,” he replied. 

Out of nowhere, Tony flew towards the falling pilot, and ripped the jammed chute, causing it to deploy. “Good chute! Good Chute!” someone behind her exclaimed. The room applauded. It felt as if a weight had been lifted of Gemma’s shoulders. She breathed easy again. She turned back to Rhodey, who had just gotten off the phone. “Did you know that your father was in the suit thing?” he asked her quietly, but gravely. “I was trying to tell you, but something came up,” she responded, gesturing her head towards the screen. He chuckled, wrapping one arm around her pulling her in for a light hug. “Let’s get you home,” he said as they exited the busy room.

 

“Are you insane?!” Gemma yelled at her father when he flew in the garage an hour later. The suit was battered, with many scratches and bullet holes. He landed on a platform that was created to take the suit off. “That’s debatable,” he replied as the helmet came off. She scoffed. “You could’ve gotten killed!” 

“But I didn’t.”

“That’s not the point!” She sighed and buried her head in her hands. When she looked up again she saw him in an awkward position on the platform. Mechanical arms were trying to take off the armour all at once. “Be gentle, this is my first time,” he told them. “I designed this to come off.” Gemma cleared her throat. “We designed this to come off,” he corrected. Gemma smiled and crossed her arms, leaning against Tony’s desk. “Don’t move, Dad! You’re moving!” she told him. “Well it’s harder than it looks-”

“What’s going on here?” Pepper asked, cutting him off. Gemma whirled around to see a mix of concern and confusion. Her mouth hung open, trying to find the right words, but nothing came out. “Let’s face it. This is not the worst thing you’ve caught me doing,” Tony said from behind her. “Oh God,” she breathed. Whatever that meant, she didn’t want to know about it. Pepper’s expression became graver when she noticed the condition of the suit. “Are those bullet holes?” Pepper looked like she was on the verge of tears. Gemma really didn’t want to be in the middle of a fight. It wouldn’t be pretty. “Why don’t you guys talk this out,” she said, walking toward the door of the workshop. “And I’m going to go upstairs.” 

Gemma rushed out of the workshop, right to her room. She’d seen her father and Pepper fight when she was younger. She couldn’t remember what it was about, but there had been a lot of yelling and tears. Tony had gotten so mad that he’d thrown a glass across the room, shattering it against the wall. She waved the memory off, and sat on the side of her bed. She looked out the windows, watching the ocean waves brush up against the shore, then retreat to back the sea.

Tony joined her on a while later, wrapping his left arm around her. “What did you tell her?” She asked, not taking her gaze off the ocean. He sighed. “I told her the truth. She had about the same reaction as you,” he said, pulling her in closer. “Are you guys… okay?” she asked, looking at him. His face was no longer sweaty and dirty like it had been when he’d got back. “Yeah we’ll be fine. I think Pep needs to process everything,” he said, returning his gaze to her. 

Gemma smiled, and rested her head on Tony’s shoulder. “Okay,” she said quietly. “I love you, Gemma,” he told her. “I love you too, Dad.” They sat silently on the bed, watching the waves roll in and out until the sun set over the horizon.


	9. Chapter 9

Gemma knew she came down to the workshop at the wrong time the next afternoon when she heard Pepper say, “Well, then I quit.” She was completely shocked. Pepper could handle Tony any time of day. Did this have to do with what happened yesterday? She approached the entrance of the workshop with silent steps, making sure they couldn’t see or hear her. Hidden from Tony and Pepper on the stair case, she peeked around the corner to see what was going on. Tony was sitting on his desk chair, Pepper in front of him. On table separating them, she could she a small flash drive. “You stood by me all these years while I reaped the benefits of destruction,” Tony said, regaining Gemma’s attention. “And now I’m trying to protect the people that I put in harm’s way, and you’re going to walk out?” Ouch. She couldn’t imagine how either of them must be feeling. It really hurt her to seem them talking like this. “You’re going to kill yourself Tony, you can’t put Gemma through that and I’m definitely not going to be a part of it,” she heard Pepper reply with a very serious tone. 

Gemma covered her mouth to hide her heavy breathing. She peaked around again. Tony was looking at Pepper, his eyes shinier than usual. “I shouldn’t be alive, unless it was for some reason,” he continued. “I’m not crazy, Pepper. I just finally know what I have to do. And I know in my heart that it’s right. You and Gemma are all I have, too, you know. You and Gemma,” he finished his little sentimental speech, which made her smile slightly. Pepper picked up the flash drive from the table and turned to the door to leave. 

Gemma bolted up the stairs and quickly sat on the couch, picking up one the magazines on the coffee table. She looked up from the magazine when Pepper strode from the stairs from the workshop to the front door. “Where are you going?” she inquired, putting down the magazine. “Oh, I have to go to the company to get something for your father,” Pepper told her. Pepper gave her a small smile, but Gemma knew that she was trying to hide the conversation that she and Tony just had. She looked back down at her magazine, the back to Pepper. “Can I come with you?” Gemma really wanted to know what Tony had asked her to do. Pepper considered it for a second then said, “I guess that’d be okay.” 

Gemma smiled, got up from the couch, slipped on her black ballet flats and walked out the door with Pepper. They climbed into the back of the black car and Happy drove them to Stark Industries. When they were about midway there, Gemma asked, “What did Dad ask you to do?” Pepper held the flash drive firmly in her hand. “He asked me to retrieve a couple shipping files from the company’s database,” she replied. Gemma realized that this was still about Afghanistan weapons deal. All she did was nod and continued to look out the window and the passing cars. The rest of the ride was silent; Gemma had thought it would be too awkward to bring anything up. 

They were greeted by several people when they entered Stark Industries. Tony’s office was on the top floor behind large wooden doors. They both entered coolly and Gemma closed the door behind her and scurried over Pepper, who was already looking at files on the computer. As they skimmed through them, one of the files caught their attention. “Sector sixteen,” Gemma read aloud. “Obadiah what are you up to?” Pepper said to herself. She flipped through the file, revealing the outlines of a suit that resembled Tony’s first. Gemma gasped quietly. Was he trying to build a… suit? Next a video popped up, of a man with a burlap sack over his head, sitting in a chair. The man was surrounded by bigger men, holding guns. They were terrorists. The video started to play in a foreign language, and Pepper quickly translated it. “You did not tell us that the target you paid us to kill, was the great Tony Stark,” the terrorist in the middle said. 

Gemma felt like her knees were about to give out. She gripped on to the desk for balance. As the video continued to play, her heart started to beat faster. The sack ripped off the man’s head, to reveal Tony’s bruised and battered face. “As you can see Obadiah Stane…” 

“Oh my god,” Gemma and Pepper said in unison. “… Your deception and lies will cost you dearly. The price to kill Tony Stark has just gone up.” Before they could react, Obadiah entered the office, making Gemma jump. Pepper quickly quit the video and started to copy all the files onto the flash drive. “So what are we going to do about this?” he asked, smiling. Pepper looked at him, saying nothing. Gemma slowly covered the flash drive with the newspaper that was on the desk. “I know what you’re going through though, you two. Tony, he always gets the good stuff, doesn’t he? I was so happy when he came home.” 

Gemma resisted the urge to punch him. She really wanted of get out there; she wanted to tell Tony Obadiah ordered him to be killed. But she couldn’t. Not with him in the room. Not without raising his suspicions. “It was like we got him back from the dead,” he continued, pouring himself a drink from the pitcher on a small table beside the desk. “Now I realize, well, Tony never did come home, did he? He left a part of himself in that cave. Breaks my heart.” Gemma gritted her teeth. She couldn’t stand being in the same room as Obadiah. He betrayed her father, he betrayed her, the company. “Well he’s a complicated person,” Gemma managed to say, fake smiling. “He’s been through a lot. I think he’ll be alright,” Pepper added from beside her. “You two are very rare women. Tony doesn’t know how lucky he is,” he said. 

“Thank you, thanks. We’d better get back there,” Pepper told him, while removing the flash drive, picking it up with the newspaper Gemma had put over it. They were just about out when Obadiah stopped them. Gemma broke out in a sudden sweat and her heart was beating so fast she thought it might come out of her chest. She prepared for the worst, but all he said was, “Is that today’s paper?” He walked over to them, still wearing that big smile which Gemma now hated. “Do you mind?” he asked. “Not at all,” Pepper replied. She saw Pepper smoothly slide the flash drive into her blazer pocket. “Take care,” Obadiah said, and they left. 

Gemma and Pepper sped walked so fast, but it still didn’t seem fast enough. They were almost out of the building when Agent Coulson greeted them in the lobby. “Ms. Potts?” he asked, joining their pace. “We had an appointment. Did you forget about our appointment?”

“Nope right now come with me,” Pepper replied, a little too loudly. “Gemma,” Pepper turned to face her. “Go home and tell Tony what you know okay?” Gemma nodded, then quickly walked out the doors of Stark Industries and met Happy in the parking lot. “Happy! Get in! Drive, fast!” She got into the passenger seat; her heart was still beating so fast. “Where?” Happy asked as he got the car moving. “Home. Fast,” she replied. Once Happy got the out of the parking lot, he asked, “What’s the rush?” 

“It’s Obadiah. He tried to kill my dad,” she couldn’t believe those words came out of her mouth. “Oh my god,” was all Happy said, maneuvering around other cars on the road. “Once you drop me off, you need to contact Rhodey, or find Pepper,” Gemma told him. Happy nodded, not taking his eyes off the road. The ride seemed like forever. The trees and the ocean were never-ending. Happy was driving the speed limit, but it only felt like half. Her heart beat started to slow as they pulled up to the house. She got out of the car with so much speed that she almost tripped over her own feet. 

Gemma rushed into the large mansion. It was quiet, and everything was the same as when she’d left. “Dad?” she called out to the house. There was no answer. She made her way to the family room. Empty. Then footsteps sounded from the basement. Tony emerged from the hallway. Thank God. 

“Dad!” Gemma cried as she rushed over to his side. He stepped back, a little stunned. “Dad, we have to get out of here, Obadiah is coming, he is behind everything,” her heart was pumping so fast and it sounded like all her words were melting together. She grabbed her father’s hand and tried to pull him back down to the garage, but he didn’t move. “Gemma, honey, what are you talking about?”

“Pepper and I found a ransom video of you in Afghanistan on Obadiah’s computer. He set up your kidnapping and wanted you killed,” she breathed, and tried to pull him to the garage. She looked back at Tony, but he was glued to the ground in confusion. “No… Obie wouldn’t – ”

“We can talk about in the car, but we have to go,” Gemma turned around and saw two big, burly men in front of her, holding a gun to her head. One of them grabbed her arms and pinned them behind her back, still pointing the gun to her head. She stomped on his foot as hard as she could. The man yelped in pain, but did not let go, instead twisted her left arm. Gemma cried out. Two other men were holding her father. He was struggling to get away. “Don’t hurt her, I swear to God,” Tony yelled. 

A familiar figure approached Tony from behind, with some sort of device and a brief case. It was Obadiah. “Dad!” Gemma cried but it was too late, Obadiah shot Tony with the device, and he ceased all movement. The men let go of him, and Obadiah set him on the couch. The sight was horrifying. His skin was almost blue, his veins showing. He wasn’t moving, but his eyes burned with anger. Obadiah stood beside him, with an evil smile on his face. “Ah, Gemma Stark,” Obadiah said as he pulled some sort of device out from the brief case. 

The men who held her brought her closer to Obadiah and Tony. “What did you do to him?” she asked, her voice shaky. “Nothing major, just short-term paralysis,” Obadiah grinned, and turned back to Tony and sighed. “Tony,” he started, sitting down beside him. “When I ordered that hit on you, I worried that I was killing the golden goose. But, you see, it was just fate that you survived. You had one last golden egg to give. Do you really think that just because you have an idea, it belongs to you?” 

Gemma struggled against the man holding her. She considered shouting out, but thought that it would anger Obadiah, and nobody would hear her anyway. “Your father,” Obadiah continued. “He helped give us the atomic bomb. Now, what kind of world would it be today if he was as selfish as you?” Obadiah put the device to Tony’s arc reactor. It cut through his shirt pulling out the glowing magnet that was keeping her father alive. “No! Stop!” She cried, pulling against the man pinning her arm behind her back. “You’ll kill him!” The man pushed the muzzle of the gun harder against her head. She stopped yelling, but started to sob quietly. “Oh, it’s beautiful,” Obadiah said. He observed the mini arc reactor. It was like he was mesmerized by it. “Tony, this is your Ninth Symphony. What a masterpiece. Look at that. This is your legacy. A new generation of weapons with this at its heart. Weapons that will help steer the word back on course, put the balance in our hands. The right hands. I wish you could’ve seen my prototype.” 

He turned his back to Tony, putting the arc reactor in a bag. “It’s not as… conservative as yours,” he continued. “Too bad you had to involve Gemma and Pepper in this. I would’ve preferred if Pepper lived.” Gemma’s heart froze. She’d forgotten about Pepper. Did he get to her first? Her muscles tensed as Obadiah walked towards her. “Genevieve Maria Stark,” he sighed and rested his hand of her shoulder. She looked into his cold eyes. “You bastard,” she spat. “You’re so naïve. Why don’t you come see the prototype? Put her in the car,” he ordered the two men. She felt a sharp pain shoot through the back of her skull, and fell into darkness.


	10. Chapter 10

“You didn’t sleep long,” Gemma heard Obadiah say as she came to. Her head was aching as she noticed her surroundings. She was in the back seat of a car with tinted windows, two men on either side of her. The men had hand guns on their laps. Everything started to come back: the terrorist video, Obadiah’s betrayal, her father’s paralysed face as the arc reactor was removed from his body. Her father! She imagined the worst; he could be dead right now. Trying to not think about it, she asked, “How long was I out?” 

“About thirty minutes,” Obadiah replied. He wasn’t driving the car, but was in the passenger seat. The car stopped slowly, and Obadiah got out of the car, and opened the car door to the left of her. The man to left got out, and Obadiah grabbed her arm and pulled her out. The light of day made her headache worse, but she realized that she was at the Stark Industries factory. Obadiah had a tight grip on her arm and the man that had been to her right was standing behind her. “Listen,” Obadiah spoke in a low voice, looking her right in the eyes. “We are going to walk into the factory, and if you scream or say anything, Mr. Ranford,” he looked up at the man who was standing behind her, “will kill you.”

She nodded slowly, biting her bottom lip. “Good,” he said with a smile, then lead her into the building. The man who ushered her- Mr. Ranford, stayed close behind her, concealing the gun at her back. “Good evening Miss Stark, Mr. Stane,” the receptionist chirped. Gemma smiled and nodded. They soon arrived at a large steel door. Section 16 was stained across it in bold black letters. Obadiah swiped his company card on the lock, and the door opened with a hydraulic click. 

The room was massive and gray with fluorescent lights hanging down from the ceiling. In the middle of the room, there was a platform with from what she could tell, something giant and metal in the center. Obadiah strode up on the platform and grabbed a pair and handcuffs from the dashboard and tossed then to Mr. Ranford. “Cuff her to the railing,” he ordered. Mr. Ranford roughly dragged her up the stairs of the platform and attached the handcuffs to her wrists around the railing. She could now clearly see what the metal thing was. She gasped when she realized it was the suit from the file. It looked almost exactly like the schematics of the first suit Tony had shown her. “Oh my god,” she breathed. “Isn’t it beautiful?” He admired his work. “Oh, please,” she spat softly, looking away. He sighed. “Gemma… This could revolutionize the weapons industry; it will help the company. Get it back on its feet.” 

Gemma clenched her fists. “My father wanted the suit to be used for good! To protect humanity! Not to destroy it!” The handcuffs made a clinking noise against the metal railing. “If these suits get into the wrong hands, the results would be horrifying!” 

“Oh Gemma, just as selfish as your father,” Obadiah held his hand up to slap her, but one of the other men caught his attention. “Sir, it appears that Miss Potts is outside along with several agents,” the man told him. Gemma was relieved that Pepper wasn’t dead, like Obadiah had claimed. “Get the suit ready,” he ordered the man and reached for something off the dashboard. It was a rolled of duct tape and he ripped off a short strip. Gemma tried to yell Pepper’s name but the tape was quickly placed over her mouth. Obadiah then got into the suit. It booted up a lot quieter then she’d thought it would, and unhooked itself from the chains. It stomped off until she couldn’t see it anymore. 

Gemma was trying to slip her wrists out from the cuffs when there was a small explosion from the door. She whipped her head around and saw Pepper and Agent Coulson come in along with about five other agents. She screamed through the tape and Pepper’s eyes widened with alarm. “Oh my god, Gemma!” She ran up the platform and ripped the tape off her mouth. “Are you okay?” She asked as Agent Coulson undid the handcuffs. Gemma nodded and then gave Pepper a big hug. “It’s going to be okay, it’s going to be okay,” Pepper soothed. “Do you know where he went?” 

“Obadiah went over there,” Gemma pointed to the right of the room, where there was a dark passage way. Several agents started to run in that direction. “He has a suit, a big suit,” she told Pepper. Suddenly, there was a loud stomping coming from that part of the room, and agents were running the other way. Gemma and Pepper gasped when Obadiah’s suit came into full view. Gemma felt herself running faster than she thought she could, ignoring the bullets coming directly at her. She didn’t stop until she was outside the building, Pepper beside her. Pepper’s Bluetooth went off. “Tony,” she yelled. “Tony are you okay?” Gemma held her breath. “Good. Gemma’s fine, she’s with me. Obadiah, he’s gone insane!” She was continuing to talk to Tony when Gemma noticed the suit rise from the concrete in front of her. Gemma tapped Pepper on the arm without looking at her. She’d didn’t see Pepper’s reaction, only hearing her shriek as the giant metal suit loomed over them. “Where do you think you’re going?” Obadiah’s deeper, garbled voice said. The palm of his hand was pointing directly at them. “Your services are no longer required,” he boomed.

Gemma was about to start running, but she heard a loud, familiar voice. She turned toward the voice and saw a flash of light knock Obadiah’s suit right back through the concrete it came from. It was her father in his suit. She didn’t see the two for a while after. She only saw the occasional explosion and heard the faint sounds of Obadiah’s voice. What worried her was the fact that Tony wouldn’t have enough power because he was most likely using the older arc reactor Pepper ended up saving. Two rays of light in the sky caught her attention. One was thinner and higher, her father’s suit, than the second, Obadiah’s suit. Tony kept flying higher and higher, almost as if he would go into outer space. Then the lights in Obadiah’s suit when out, and it hurdled towards the ground. Tony’s lights flickered as he slowly drifted down the night sky and landed on the factory roof. Gemma was relieved when Pepper started to talk to him again on her Bluetooth. 

“Tony!” Pepper breathed. “Oh my god, are you okay?” Gemma looked up and saw Obadiah and Tony fighting on the roof. It looked like Obadiah was squishing Tony, then flashes of light came from the suit and he let go. Pepper talked to Tony through the Bluetooth again. “Tony!” There was a pause. “Well how are you going to do that?” Pepper spoke again. She then turned to Gemma and said, “Gemma, I need to go in the factory, stay here. Do not come inside okay?” Gemma nodded with wide eyes. She watched Pepper slowly walk over the shattered glass into the factory. From what she could see, Pepper was pulling down levers and pressing all sorts of buttons. Gemma looked back up at Tony and Obadiah and realized what Pepper was doing. She was going to over load the arc reactor powering the factory. She hoped that Tony would get off the roof in time. Obadiah’s voice caught her attention. “Trying to rid the world of weapons, you gave it its best one ever. And now, I’m going to kill you with it.” Oh my god. She couldn’t lose her father, not now. 

“You’ll die!” Gemma heard Pepper’s screams from inside the factory. Her heart started to beat faster. She could see Obadiah shooting missiles at Tony. She almost tripped as she backed away from the factory, which was now covered in electric waves. Gemma breathed again when she saw Pepper run out towards her. Pepper gave her a big hug, and she hugged back. “Holy crap,” Gemma breathed when she saw a huge flash of light coming from the reactor travel to the sky. When the light retreated, she heard crashes, and then there was a huge explosion. The light from the explosion engulfed almost the whole factory. Gemma looked at Pepper and asked, “Where’s Dad?” 

Pepper gazed at the roof of the ruined factory and then back to Gemma. Her eyes were shiny with tears. “I’m sorry,” she said, holding her. Gemma pushed Pepper off, and ran into the factory, Pepper’s screams to tell her otherwise becoming more and more distant. She found her way to the roof, being careful to avoid the shattered glass, and hot metal from the explosion. When she finally got to the roof, she gave it a long stare, and then found her father lying on his back in the battered suit. “Are you okay?” Tony asked her when she ran to him. “Am I okay? Are you okay?” she asked choking back tears. “I’m fine, Obadiah and his men endangered your life and took you away my heart almost stopped. I was so scared. You don’t think I’d ever leave you, do you?” Gemma chuckled and felt tears coming from her eyes. She hugged him, and he hugged back. The suit was uncomfortable to hug, but she didn’t care. 

When they went down to meet Pepper, it reminded Gemma of when Tony had come back from Afghanistan. Pepper was standing in front of them, her eyes red. None of them said anything, they just hugged, and everything felt right.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapters wraps up In Good Hands! Like I said before, this story is currently going through an editing process so the chapter content is subject to change in the future. Thanks for reading!

Gemma looked at herself through the mirror in the small room at the Stark Industries headquarters. The room was sparse with two TV screens broadcasting the press conference that was taking place right outside. Behind her, Pepper and Agent Coulson were discussing something inaudible and Tony was reading the newspaper. It had been two days since the fight between Tony and Obadiah, and Tony was going to give his statement at the press conference momentarily. Gemma was wearing a crimson pencil skirt and a white blouse. Her hair was in a neat, wavy side-ponytail. On the TV screen, Rhodey was giving a statement about non-military involvement. “‘Iron Man’, it’s got a nice ring to it,” Tony said, catching her attention. “Well technically, the suit’s made of gold-titanium alloy, but I like it,” Gemma added. Tony ruffled her hair, and she gave him a friendly glare. 

“Here’s your alibi,” Agent Coulson said, giving him a couple cue cards. “You were on your yacht,” he continued. “We have port papers that put you in Avalon that night and sworn statements from fifty of your guests.”

“See, I was thinking that we could say that it was just Pepper and me, alone on the island,” Tony said. Gemma cleared her throat. “And Gemma would be there,” he added as he put his arm around her. “Yeah, I’d be one chaperoning you guys,” Gemma said and Pepper chuckled. “That’s what happened,” Agent Coulson agreed. “Just read it, word for word.” Tony skimmed the cards, and then looked back to the agent. “There’s nothing about Stane here,” he told him. “That’s being handled,” Agent Coulson reassured him. “Small aircrafts have such poor safety records.”

“But what about the whole cover story that it’s a body guard? That’s kind of flimsy don’t you think?” Tony asked. Gemma didn’t really understand what he meant, but she assumed that the story would raise suspicions. “This isn’t my first rodeo, Mr. Stark. Just stick to the official statement, and soon, this will all be behind you.” Agent Coulson turned to leave, but both Gemma and Pepper stopped him. “We just want to say thank you very much for all your help,” Gemma told him. “That’s what we do. You’ll be hearing from us,” Agent Coulson replied. “From the Strategic Homeland…” Pepper started but was cut off. “Just call us S.H.I.E.L.D.,” he told them and then strode out of the room. 

“Let’s get this show on the road,” Pepper said as someone told Tony that he’d be on it ninety seconds. “You know, it’s actually not that bad,” Tony said gesturing to the cue cards. “Even I don’t think I’m Iron Man.” 

“You’re not Iron Man,” Pepper told him, straightening his tux. “Am so,” he retorted. “You’re not,” Pepper said sternly. Tony gave up. “All right, suit yourself.” He paused for a couple seconds then said, “You know, if I were Iron Man, I’d have this girlfriend who knew my true identity.” 

“Oh god,” Gemma said and rolled her eyes. “She’d be a wreck,” he continued. “‘Cause she’d always be worried that I was going to die, yet so proud of the man I’ve become. She’d be wildly conflicted, which would make her only crazier about me. Tell me you never think of that night.”

“Are you talking about that night we danced and went up on the balcony, and you went downstairs to get me a drink, and you left me there by myself? Is that the night you’re talking about? ” Gemma remembered the night of the charity gala. Mostly her sitting out on the balcony, watching the stars, and being pulled out by Tony. He blinked. “Thought so,” Pepper finished. She was still in front of him, fiddling with his tux. “Will that be all Mr. Stark?”

“That will be all Miss Potts,” Tony said, kissed Gemma on the forehead and exited the room to give his statement. Gemma and Pepper watched him on the TV. “And now, Mr. Stark has prepared a statement. He will not be taking any questions. Thank you,” Rhodey said, as he got down from the podium and her father got on it. “Been a while since I was in front of you, I figure I’ll stick to the cards this time,” Tony joked to lighten the mood. A few people in the crowd chuckled. He cleared his throat. “There’s been speculation that I was involved in the events that occurred on the rooftop and freeway-” 

“I’m sorry, Mr. Stark,” a female reporter interrupted him. The camera panned and Gemma saw that it was Christine Everhart from the night of the Apogee Awards. Gemma wanted to tell her to shut up, but only gritted her teeth. “Do you honestly expect us to believe that that was a body guard in a suit conveniently appeared, despite the fact that-” 

“I know that it’s confusing,” Tony cut her off. “It’s one thing to question the official story, and another thing entirely to make wild accusations or insinuate that I’m a superhero-”

“I never said you were a superhero,” Christine corrected him. Gemma narrowed her eyes. Beside her, Pepper was twiddling her pen. She could tell that Pepper was beyond annoyed. “Didn’t?” Tony continued. “Well good, because that would be outlandish, and fantastic. I’m just not the hero type, clearly,” he was starting to lose it. “With this laundry list of character defects, all the mistakes I’ve made, largely public…” he trailed off. Get back on track, Gemma thought. “Tony, read the cards,” Pepper muttered quietly. On the screen, Rhodey whispered something to Tony. He was probably telling him exactly what Gemma was thinking. “The truth is…” Her father looked down at his cards and then back to the crowd. It seemed as if he was looking directly at Gemma. She stared into his eyes through the screen. There was a prolonged silence. She started to twirl her hair, nervous about what he was going to say. He wouldn’t do it. Would he?

Tony opened his mouth to speak. Gemma held her breath. 

“I am Iron Man.”


End file.
